Never Let Up
by T. F. Crosby
Summary: For all the times his older brother wouldn't let up on him, this was one time he was grateful that his older brother didn't.


My first attempt at a _Lab Rats_ story. It's set sometime in the near future. they no longer live at the academy, but are back at home. (I couldn't make the story work any other way.) The idea came to me while watching "Bionic Action Hero." Just a short one-shot. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Never Let Up**

The balmy breeze tousled his dark, frizzled hair as he stood on the warm sand at the edge of the water. He smiled as he let the cool ocean water lap at his toes. Closing his eyes he inhaled deeply, pulling the salty sea air into his lungs.

"Don't forget to exhale," he heard a familiar voice call out to him. "Remember what happened last time."

He smiled to himself again as he exhaled, trying not to laugh.

It was early evening and the sun was beginning its slow descent below the horizon. The whole family had come to the beach for a dinner-picnic. It was the first time they had done so since Mr. Davenport opened the Bionic Academy and only the second since he had married Tasha.

He stood quietly at the water's edge, waiting for his siblings to gang-up on him and throw him in, especially, his older brother; the one who never let up on him no matter how much he told the knucklehead to leave him alone, no matter how much he yelled and complained.

A beach ball dropped in front of him, pulling him from his thoughts. "Hey, fur-head! Throw it back over here!"

He tossed the ball to his siblings and went back to his thoughts. The events of the previous week swirled around in his mind; the events of a mission that went south very quickly. That day, all of his siblings, especially his older brother, had been annoying him all morning. So he made his way to his secret spot.

* * *

 _Chase climbed up the tree next to the outcropping. He was quite a ways from home, but not so far he couldn't get there fairly quickly. And it wasn't like they—meaning Douglas—didn't know where he was._

 _He sat down on a branch and leaned back. The cool breeze rustled the leaves and tousled his hair. He could feel the stress already leaving his body. "Finally…."_

 _The only way he could get away from everyone was to get out of the house and away from it. While all three were bugging him, Adam wouldn't let up for anything. Finally having enough, he told Douglas he was going to his special spot._

 _He yawned. Peace and quiet was nice, but sometimes too much of it drove him almost as nuts as his siblings' picking on him—or just his siblings, in general. Mr. Davenport and Douglas could drive him crazy as well._

 _Half an hour had passed when he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. There was a message from Bree._ Mission. Now. _So much for a peaceful afternoon. He climbed down from his spot in the tree and headed home._

 _Missions are supposed to be simple. At least, theirs are supposed to be. It was the standard get in, do what you need to do, and get out. Simple. Not always short, but still simple. However, this mission soon went south in a hurry. Part of it was a rescue mission (four scientists had been kidnapped) which went smoothly; the other part was the "re-stealing"—as Adam insisted on calling it—of a refined version of the Tesla coil._

 _They expected to have a few issues getting to the coil, and getting it out; but what they didn't expect was a new villain who had absolutely no problem trying to kill them as quickly as he possibly could._

 _The man had some sort of taser-type weapon, but clearly carried much more power._

 _"Chase, get the thingy," Adam shouted._

 _The other three did their best to distract the man, but it proved futile. As he grabbed the coil he was hit with the taser-like weapon. The shock dropped him to the ground. He imagined if this was anything like being "electrocuted"—so to speak—by Emperor Palpatine._

 _He held on to the Tesla coil as his vision went blurry, watching his older brother charge the man. But the man got another shot off before Adam reached him. And then his world went dark._

 _"Chase!"_

 _The man went crashing to the ground as Adam slammed into him. Leo took a shot at the man to keep him down as Adam raced for his little brother, then took another shot for good measure._

 _"I'll contact Big D and Douglas," he said._

 _"Chase. Chasey?" Adam started shaking him. "No, no, no…. Chasey." He laid his ear on Chase's chest._ His chest was too still. _"He's not breathing and I can't hear a heartbeat."_

 _Bree, who had made her way to his side, checked for his pulse. She looked up at Adam, fear in her eyes. "No pulse."_

 _"No, no, no. Don't you leave me, Chase." Adam wracked his brain for what he had learned about CPR. He knew how to do it. He couldn't forget now._

 _Two minutes passed and Chase still had no heartbeat. Adam started to pound on his chest. "Damn you, Chase. Don't you dare die on me."_

 _"They're on their way," Leo said, stepping next to Bree. He looked at her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks._

 _"Come on, Chase. Fight," Leo said to himself._

 _"Damnit, Chase," Adam sobbed as he continued to pound on his little brother's chest. "Come on!"_

 _"Adam, stop," Bree pleaded. "He's gone."_

 _"You need to let up," Leo said when Adam didn't respond to their sister._

 _"No! I never let up! Especially not on Chasey."_

 _"Adam…" Bree cried._

 _He suddenly stopped. "Chasey?" He swore he heard his little brother take in a breath. "Chasey?"_

 _"Adam, what's going on?" Leo asked._

 _There wasn't a peep from the oldest sibling as he lay his ear against Chase's chest. It was faint at first. "Chasey? Come on." He had a heartbeat. "Take another breath." He began massaging his little brother's chest. "Come on, buddy. Come on."_

 _Chase suddenly inhaled sharply, and then exhaled. His eyes slowly opened. "Adam?"_

 _"Hey, little bro."_

* * *

"Hey, Chase?" Pulled from his thoughts, Chase turned his head. "You okay, pal?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Douglas. Just thinking."

"Okay. Food's about ready."

"I'll be right there."

He looked back over the water as his "dad" walked away and smiled. It was a good day. His whole family was together at the beach for a "family day."

"Oh…Chasey…!"

His older brother's voice rang through the air. He shook his head and closed his eyes, anticipating a bionic-brother-something-or-other.

"Here I come…!" Adam lifted up his little brother and carried him back to where the rest of the family was setting up for their meal. "It's time to eat."

For the first time, Chase didn't try to break free from his brother's iron grip. His sister and younger brother ran over to meet them, laughing.

"Are you ever gonna let up on him?" Bree asked.

Adam grinned. "Never."

Chase smiled broadly. _Never._ And that was perfectly fine with him. He was still alive because his older brother _wouldn't let up._

* * *

And there it is. Hope you liked it.


End file.
